Some things are just not meant to be
by Iris Hunter
Summary: On a cold chilly night nico kisses percy and now he thinks he was a new boyfriend. However that's not exactly how Percy feels. Pernico fluff and lots of feels, collab fic between tumblr users english-red-roses and lucythehawk Enjoy :)


I drove up to Nico's place as soon as I got the text.

"Need to get out of here. Can you pick me up?"

I knew he wasn't all comfortable with his new home but, legally, he was still an underage orphan, so getting adopted was the closest he could get to a normal life.

Not that he wanted a normal life. Being the son of Hades and all, he was kind of used to taking care of himself on his own.

"Thanks, Percy" he said as he got in the car "I just- If one more person offered me another chocolate cookie or asked me if I wanted to play monopoly I swear I was going to explode"

I studied him carefully before heading off. His dark hair had grown longer since last summer. He was wearing his ussual ripped jeans and leather jacket that, if not his body, fitted his personality. He looked, well, miserable.

Nico glanced at me when he realiced I was staring and blushed.

"Hey, no problem, man. I get it can be tough" I rushed to reply. I started to car "where to?"

Nico looked out the window "How about Central Park? I could use some fresh air"

I mean, in the middle of the night, in winter, that sounded quite creepy but then again, Nico himself was creepy. I didn't want to argue with the poor guy.

The park, as expected was deserted. Not a soul around, the dim light of the street lights allowed us to barely see where we were stepping. Our breaths turned to fog as we sat on the icy grass in front of a pond.

Nico cleared his throat "So, uh, how's Annabeth?"

Ouch. Touchy subject.

"She's...great. Super. Fantastic. She's, uh, in California with her dad right now. We... we kinda haven't spoken for a while"

He seemed to have gotten the message.

"Oh. Sorry to hear that"

"Don't be" I tried to give him a sad smile "I guess some things are meant to happen, some are not"

That must've given him a lot to think about hecause he stood quiet, looking at the distance.

I couldn't help but think how awfully lonely he was but who could he talk to? His new family? No way, they didn't know about his heritage. Friends? The closest thing to a friends that Nico had were away until summer started. Bianca was long dead. Hazel was still in California.

Lately, we'd been hanging out more often. He tended to show up at my door asking if he could come in and I always said yes, because, to be honest I was starting to feel lonely too.

Suddenly I slipped and my fingers found his for a moment.

"Nico, _you're burning up_" I warned him "Seriously, you're feverish"

His pale cheeks had turned bright red. I looked at his face but he wouldn't meet my eyes.

"I am okay" said Nico after a pause. He rested his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes. "Maybe we should go home" I said after a while "Don't want you to catch a cold" But when I was standing up he grabbed my hand.

"Nico-"

My sentence was cut off by his kiss.

He leaned over so fast I didn't have time to process what was happening. He pressed his lips against mine and placed his hand in my neck to run his fingers though my hair.

I relaxed my body and lost balance, so I grabbed his free arm and tighned the grip on his jacket.

I lost count of the seconds and the stars could have gone out of the sky in that moment. I wouldn't have realized anyway.

He stopped abruptly as if realizing what he had just done. I stood there, my eyes wide open. "I…I didn't…" Nico was struggling to find the right words "I just…I didn't meant to. I am sorry. I am sorry!" "Nico it's ok- "Take me home, please" he said.

"No, Nico, I mean it. It's okay" I tried to convince him.

"No, you- you do?" stared at me in expectation.

"Yeah, it's fine" I said.

We were both quiet throughout the way home. Although I tried to assure him that everything was fine between us, but he wouldn't talk back. He quickly got off the car without saying a word.

The next day, Nico came to my house around three in the afternoon. I was home alone and still in pijamas when he knocked the door.

Different from what I had seen him the day before he looked quite…cheerful? There was something in his eyes. If I had to describe Nico Di Angelo it would probably be gloomy. Being with him made one even kind of gloomy. Most of the times his eyes looked tired, also he would never be standing straight. But today, Nico's face seemed quite radiant. There was a kind of spark in his eyes and when he saw me they wided even more. Once in my room he hugged me and then held my hand, guiding me to sit on the bed.

"Nico…are you happy?" I asked quite in amazement. He kept tracing invisible circles in my hand with his thumb as he spoke. "Yes…Actually I think I am" he looked at me and giggled. "I am!"

I wasn't sure what made him so happy, though for some reason he couldn't stop looking at our hands and smile.

"May I?" Nico asked as he leaned a little bit back. I assumed he meant lying in my bed.

"Yeah, sure" I nodded.

He made geastures with his hands for me to come closer to him. He started caressing my face, touching slowly my lips with his index finger.

"Come" he whispered. While holding my face with one hand he pated the bed with the other.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, silly!" he answered and kissed my nose.

He laid his head on my chest, I could feel his breath in my neck. He took hold of my right hand and started kissing it and just looking at it, with a smile on his face. Though I wasn't sure what was so interesting in them. I could just stare at the motionless fan that was hanging from the ceiling.

He broke the silence: "I love you."

There was a way in his tone, that made me think that he did not mean it in a "I love you, man" type of thing. You know, the way you tell a friend maybe after they gave you a gift, do you a favour, or quite common in the case of us demi-gods, almost die for whatever reason. No. His tone made me think of something else. Actually someone else. The way he said it made me remember the way Annabeth would whisper inbetween kisses. As if it was some kind of secret between us, though everyone knew we were together. "I love you" she used say as she buried her face in my shoulder.

"Nico…I…Why are you so happy?" I asked.

His face went through various emotions. Joy, confusion, shock and...heartbreak.

"For us. I mean…I..." He looked me in the eyes. "I love you"

"Nico…I…"

"You don't…don't…" I had seen Nico miserable, but nothing like the expression he put on in that moment as he kept muttering "you don't…". As if trying to make sense of what was happening around him. He looked me in the eyes one last time and without saying a word he left the room.

I stood and followed him right in time to step between him and the front door.

"Can you just stop this? I want to go" he whimpered.

"No! Nico, listen, just, stay here for a moment-"

"Why, Percy? What for? Are you finally going to say 'I love you' back? Are you going to make me sit so that you can explain to me how you love Annabeth and we're just not meant to be? Gods! How could I have been so blind? I'm SUCH an idiot" he muttered that last to himself as he stomped in the floor. His eyes were getting teary.

I was too stunned to think of a good answer, so I just said what came to my mind first "I don't love you back, Nico. Not in that way" he looked at me with eyes full of pure hate "I'm not going to tell you otherwise just because you want me to. Sorry"

"Sorry? How about you told me all this last night when we were kissing in the park, Percy? When you held me?" his breathing was heavier, I could almost see the blood pomping in his veins "Why...are you...so...stupid, Percy?"

I took a step forward and tried to put a hand on Nico's shoulder but he backed off.

"DON'T TOUCH ME. Don't touch me. I don't _need_ you. I don't _want_ you. And I _really, really_ hate you"

A tear ran through his pale cheek and he stormed out of the room. This time I didn't stop him.

I stood there, thinking of how I was possibly the worst person in the world.

"But I don't hate you" I whispered even though I knew Nico was probably already out in the street "And this is not the end for you, Nico. No one's alone forever"


End file.
